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When Life Gives You Tangerines Ep 1-4 Review: IU and Park Bo Gum bring periodical magic in a pure tale of love
We checked out the first four episodes of the highly awaited Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines starring IU and Park Bo Gum, and here’s what we think.
IU and Park Bo Gum: a match made in visual and acting heavens. When the casting for When Life Gives You Tangerines was announced, it was almost unbelievable that this pairing had never been done before when it seemed only natural for two of the industry's most beloved (and talented) young actors.
IU, known for her acting in K-dramas like Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Hotel del Luna, and My Mister, among others, unites with Park Bo Gum, who has impressed with his chops in Reply 1988, Love in the Moonlight, and Record of Youth. The two star as Oh Ae Sun and Yang Gwan Sik in the period drama, which begins in the 1950s and is carried across four seasons in their lives.
The first week showed the spring era, where, despite tough days, the flowers bloomed and their love triumphed over hardships. Almost the entire first episode ran over their childhood as the two ten-year-olds battled with their fate in poor households in Jeju, where the story will run. Director Kim Won Seok returns with yet another cinematic story where, right from the opening credits, you’ll be stuck to the screen, eyes peeled and mouth agape. He manages storytelling with a delicacy that is rarely seen while also smacking you with the truth of this cruel world.
While each actor, carefully curated, carries its weight to the utmost levels, some memorable mentions include Yeom Hye Ran, who, as Oh Ae Sun’s mother, brought the toughness of an Asian mother clutched to her heart. Child actors Kim Tae Yeon and Lee Cheon Mu are innocent, sure, but also gritty and a delight to watch.
The storywriting truly has the refined eye of Lim Sang Choon, who has time and again brought raw stories of women to light, and When Life Gives You Tangerines is no different. It runs over the dilapidated state of life as an Asian daughter born in an impoverished family where a dreamer, Ae Sun, is shackled by the demands of society, living only with the hope of the one ray of sunshine in her life, Gwan Shik.
As their respective characters, IU and Park Bo Gum manage a feat hardly even seen in movies these days, as they present a story so relatable but tearfully empowering as we watch how love wins all. It’s amusing and heartbreaking at the same time.
With 3 more seasons to go in the coming weeks, When Life Gives You Tangerines is on a path to sure-shot success. Indeed, you have done well.
